There was a time, not all that way back, when Logan Paul was similar to every other midwestern child. Armed with a digicam and a wild humorousness, Logan and his youthful brother Jake Paul rose to fame on Vine, the now-defunct six-second video platform. On Vine, Logan specifically constructed a large viewers with slapstick sketches and over-the-top antics. When Vine shut down, each Paul brothers efficiently migrated to YouTube, the place their subscriber bases ballooned into the tens of hundreds of thousands. Alongside the way in which, they made headlines for controversial stunts, high-profile feuds, and a polarizing however efficient potential to remain within the public eye.
Considered one of Logan’s most notable rivalries got here with fellow YouTuber and UK-based content material creator KSI, actual title Olajide Olatunji.
What started as on-line trash discuss finally morphed into two precise boxing matches — newbie bouts that packed arenas and offered a whole bunch of 1000’s of pay-per-view streams. The drama was actual, the advertising was savvy, and the spectacle helped catapult each males past web fame and into mainstream popular culture. However whereas followers have been nonetheless arguing over who received within the ring, Logan Paul and KSI have been quietly engaged on a a lot larger hustle behind the scenes.
In what turned out to be a genuinely sensible enterprise transfer, the previous rivals teamed as much as launch a beverage firm: Prime Hydration.
Debuting in early 2022, the model positioned itself as a sports activities drink various, someplace between Gatorade and an power shot.
As a crusty previous 40-something cynical web author, I am going to admit that I used to be extraordinarily skeptical that Prime would turn into something apart from a flash-in-the-pan. I used to be flawed. Prime instantly exploded in reputation. Prime did not simply promote — it went viral. Circumstances flew off retailer cabinets, resale markets popped up amongst faculty youngsters, and social media turned each taste drop into an occasion.
By 2023, Prime had reportedly surpassed $1.3 billion in world income, an absurd determine for a beverage firm not backed by a legacy meals conglomerate.
Nonetheless.
As a crusty previous 40-something cynical web author, I am going to admit that I used to be considerably glad to see a latest report claiming that Prime’s gross sales — notably within the UK and U.S. — have PLUMMETED.
(Photograph by Ben Roberts Photograph/Getty Photos)
75% Decline
Based on sports activities enterprise reporter Darren Rovell, Prime is on tempo to solely generate $300 million in income in 2025. Once more, that is down from $1.3 billion in 2023. That is a 76% drop.
In 2023, PRIME offered $1.3 Billion in product.
It is on tempo to do solely $300 million in 2025. pic.twitter.com/7vThyYqFVE
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 8, 2025
Lawsuits and Vendor Disputes
As if falling gross sales weren’t sufficient, Prime can also be going through authorized troubles from its suppliers. In 2024, beverage bottler Refresco sued Prime’s dad or mum firm for $68 million, alleging breach of contract. Refresco claimed Prime had dedicated to ordering 18.5 million circumstances per yr and fell “nicely under” these volumes. The go well with blamed “fading social media buzz” and mounting lawsuits for the decline. The case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, however the public submitting laid naked the enterprise stress Prime is beneath.
A second lawsuit, filed by ingredient provider Agrovana, accused Prime of failing to pay for merchandise it had contractually ordered. Agrovana’s submitting described the corporate as having “cash-flow points” and famous that Prime was making an attempt to safe credit score to pay its payments. Prime denied the claims and filed a counterclaim, asserting Agrovana failed to satisfy high quality requirements. That case stays ongoing.
The Way forward for Prime
When Prime launched, it seemed like a masterclass in influencer branding — a collision of hype, timing, and viewers engagement that constructed a billion-dollar firm virtually in a single day. However sustaining that form of buzz is notoriously troublesome. Influencer-led manufacturers usually burn sizzling and quick. Ask anybody who invested in One thing Navy or Feastables or any variety of viral product traces that struggled to outlive as soon as the net frenzy wore off.
The query now could be whether or not Prime has sufficient substance — as a beverage and a model — to stay round with out the fixed booster shot of viral advertising.
Unhealthy Timing
The timing couldn’t be worse for Logan Paul. Simply final month, he plunked down $32.5 million for a mansion in Puerto Rico. In a video tour he gave of the house, which I am going to embrace under, Logan considerably implied that he overextended himself to purchase the mansion as a approach to power himself to maintain hustling. We nonetheless estimate his web price at a wholesome $200 million, however a lot of that’s based mostly on illiquid property like the worth of Prime and his clothes firm. And maybe our valuation of Prime must be marked method method down…
